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Attorney General Sam Olens, Ashley Holland, & Emily Rowell (Host)

Attorney General Sam Olens

Attorney General Sam Olens appeared as a Special Guest today on Atlanta Legal Experts Radio.   We are helping him get the word out about his project in fighting against teens abuse of prescription drugs, “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” his fight against the current epidemic of Human Trafficking, and his endorsement of the “Georgia Legal Food Frenzy,” a competition among many attorneys and law firms raising money for the Atlanta Community Food Bank to fight against childhood hunger.

Biography of Attorney General Sam Olens

Sam Olens was re-elected to a second term as Georgia’s 53rd Attorney General on November 4, 2014.

As Attorney General, Olens is committed to serving Georgians by defending the U.S. and Georgia Constitutions and upholding the rule of law.

He has fought for stronger laws to protect Georgians. In 2011, he worked with legislators to strengthen the penalties for sex trafficking, making Georgia’s law one of the toughest in the nation. In 2012, he spearheaded the first comprehensive revision of Georgia’s sunshine laws in more than a decade. In 2013, he led the effort to stem the epidemic of prescription drug abuse with a law that requires pain management clinics to be licensed and regulated.

Olens has also worked to protect Georgia’s rights and natural resources. He led Georgia’s legal challenge against the Affordable Care Act and continues to defend Georgia from federal regulatory overreach. Olens has represented the State in crucial litigation to preserve Georgia’s water rights and removed legal barriers that were delaying the critical deepening of the Savannah Harbor.

In 2013, Olens was elected by his peers to Chair the Southern Region of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG). Olens currently serves on numerous NAAG Committees to include Substance Abuse, Human Trafficking, Law Enforcement and Prosecutorial Relations, Elections and Financial Services Consumer Protection.

Prior to being elected to Attorney General, Olens was Chairman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners, serving from August 2002 through March 2010.

From December 2004 through 2009, Olens served as Chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission. He was appointed as Vice-Chair of the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District from 2005 through March 2010.

Olens also devotes much time assisting various non-profit organizations.

Olens is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the 2013 Emory Law School Distinguished Alumni Award, the 2008 Tom Bradley Leadership Award by the National Association of Regional Councils and the 2007 “Excellence in Public Service Award” by the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute. For the past 11 years, Georgia Trend magazine has listed Olens as one of the “100 Most Influential Georgians.” In 2011, the Cobb Chamber of Commerce honored Olens for his dedication to community and philanthropic service by naming their annual community service award the “Sam Olens Business Community Service Award.”

Olens graduated from the Emory University School of Law in 1983. He is a registered mediator/arbitrator with the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution. He has been admitted to practice law in Georgia and the District of Columbia.

Olens and his wife Lisa have two children, Lauren and Jonathan.

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Ashley Hollan, Esq. w/ The Hollan Entertainment Law Group

Since birth, Ashley Hollan has been immersed in the arts, defining herself as an artist and advocate for the creative community.  By the time she reached high school, Ashley’s visual artwork had been featured both at the High Museum of Art as well as at the twin towers of the Floyd Building in Atlanta, Georgia.​  Ashley attended college at Duke University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Public Policy and Visual Art/Art History and spent a semester studying art and art history in Florence, Italy at Studio Art Centers International (SACI).  Ashley then matriculated to law school at the University of Denver, where she held various positions to build her business and legal entertainment experience.  In law school, Ashley was the President of the Sports and Entertainment Law Society, Staff Editor for the Sports and Entertainment Law Journal and President of Phi Delta Phi legal ethics honors fraternity.  Her internships included work with two Duke University entities, a start-up company, the Fulton County Conflict Defender, the DeKalb County Public Defender, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Realty Division, Rock the Earth, a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization that partners with the music industry, a concert promotions internship with AEG Live, an internship with top hockey agents at K.O. Sports, Inc., and work as an Associate with Tennessee Volunteer Lawyers and Professionals for the Arts.    She also served as an Intellectual Property Law Teaching Assistant for a close mentor, Professor Robert Sullivan of Loeb & Loeb, at Nashville School of Law.

Ashley’s extensive legal background as a licensed attorney includes work as a contract Metro Conflict Defender representing indigent clients charged with both complex and noncomplex felonies, a contractor for the Cobb County Circuit Defender representing indigent clients in both State and Superior Courts, employment at international law firm King & Spalding, and employment as General Counsel and Vice President of Business Development for a large chain of boat and recreational vehicle dealerships where she was responsible for both multi-state and international corporate divisions.  She is licensed to practice law in both Georgia and Tennessee.

Ashley focuses her practice on entertainment, music and art clients and serves as a Volunteer Lawyer with Tennessee Volunteer Lawyers and Professionals for the Arts as well as Georgia Lawyers for the Arts.  She is active in multiple bar associations including the Georgia Bar Association where she is a member of the Sports and Entertainment Law Section and the American Bar Association, where she is a member of the Forum on Entertainment and Sports Industries and the Business Law Section.  Ashley is also a member of the National Association of Record Industry Professionals and is currently enrolled in the Berklee College of Music/ SNHU Music Business MBA program.  Ashley has studied French, Spanish, and Italian aside from her native English language, and resides in Atlanta with her fiancé and rescue pets, though she can be found in Atlanta, Athens or Nashville on any given day.

EDUCATION:

Duke University: Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy and Visual Art/ Art History

University of Denver Sturm College of Law: Juris Doctor

Berklee College of Music/ SNHU: Music Business MBA Candidate

BAR ADMISSIONS:

Tennessee, 2009

Georgia, 2010

RECENT PRESENTATIONS:

​”An Overview of Synch Deals” National Association of Record Industry Professionals, Atlanta Chapter, February 18, 2015

“Artist Alert: Covering Your Assets- Litigation in Entertainment” Georgia Lawyers for the Arts, November 19, 2014

Guest Speaker on “Atlanta Legal Experts” Business Radio, April 28, 2015

PUBLICATIONS:

“Music Lawyers Taking the Rap: The Musicalization of Legal Ethics,” University of Denver Sports and Entertainment Law Journal, 4 U. Denv. Sports & Ent. Law J. 196 (2008)

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Bill Cibulas w/ The Law Office of William C. Cibulas, P.C.

Bill Cibulas is the owner of the Law Office of William C. Cibulas, P.C. Prior to starting his own firm in 2011 he provided legal related services to a local accounting firm, which covered an extensive range of both business and personal tax issues. Even before that, upon graduating from law school in 2008 Mr. Cibulas handled a wide variety of civil litigation cases, along with estate and business law matters throughout New York’s Capital Region as an Associate Attorney with his former employer.

Mr. Cibulas is admitted to practice in the States of Georgia and New York as well as the United States Tax Court.

Prior Employment

Mr. Cibulas previously worked with the CPA firm Capital Accounting & Tax in Atlanta, GA, where he still provides assistance in specific tax controversy matters. As mentioned above, before that he practiced law as an Associate Attorney with the Law Offices of Wood & Seward, LLP in Gloversville, NY.

Education

In 2008 Mr. Cibulas obtained his J.D. from Albany Law School, Union University in Albany, NY , and in 2005 was conveyed a B.S.B.A. degree in Finance from Ohio State University in Columbus, OH.

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Sonia Lakhany, Tricia Smith, Jim Johnson, & Emily Rowell (Host)

Sonia Lakhany Esq. w/ Lakhany Law, PC

Sonia Lakhany focuses her practice on trademark and copyright prosecution, as well as corporate and transactional law matters. In addition to her law practice, Sonia is an instructor at the Trademark Institute of Training, where she lectures on trademark law basics and the mechanics of trademark prosecution. Sonia also speaks and blogs regularly on intellectual property under the name “Lady Lanham, Esq” (a word play on The Lanham Act, which is the federal law that gives trademark protection in the United States). Over the course of her career, Sonia has helped numerous startups and small- and medium-sized businesses secure trademark protection for their names, logos, and taglines.  Prior to founding Lakhany Law, LLC, Sonia practiced at firms in Washington, DC and Atlanta, Georgia.

Sonia stays active in the Atlanta legal community in several ways. For the Intellectual Property Section of the Georgia State Bar, she serves as Co-Chair of the Young Lawyers Division-Intellectual Property (YLD-IP) Lawyers Committee and a member of the Trademark Committee. For the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers (GAWL), she serves on the Mentoring Committee and leads a monthly Breakfast Mentoring Circle. For the South Asian Bar Association of Georgia (SABA-GA), she serves as Co-Vice-President.

Sonia earned her Juris Doctorate at the Emory University School of Law, with a focus on intellectual property. As part of her Juris Doctorate program, Sonia spent her final semester at The George Washington University Law School in Washington, DC completing coursework in the intellectual property LLM program and concurrently held an internship at the United States Copyright Office. She also authored an independent copyright law research paper entitled, “There’s More Than One Way to Skin the Mouse: A Comparative Analysis of Fictional Character Protection”, which won first place in the Emory Law American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Nathan Burkan Memorial Writing Competition.

Originally from Orange County, California, Sonia attended the University of Southern California, earning her Bachelor of Arts in Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication and her Minor in Business Administration at the Marshall School of Business.

Sonia is licensed to practice in Georgia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. She is fluent in Urdu/Hindi. In her spare time, Sonia enjoys running, hiking, and cooking.

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Tricia Smith w/ Focus Brands

Tricia Smith is an in-house attorney with FOCUS Brands Inc., franchisor of Auntie Anne’s, Carvel, Cinnabon, McAlister’s Deli, Moe’s Southwest Grill and Schlotzsky’s Deli. At FOCUS, Tricia manages the trademark portfolios of all six brands and is responsible for monitoring the use of brand assets online and off, by FOCUS employees and those not associated with the brands, and handles the online enforcement of intellectual property rights when necessary. In addition, Tricia reviews and approves all marketing, advertising and PR communications for each of the six brands and is the legal point of contact for both the Global Channels Group (brand licensing) and International Franchising departments of FOCUS Brands. Tricia joined FOCUS Brands in January 2012, shortly after graduating from Georgia State University College of Law and passing the Georgia bar exam in 2011.

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Jim Johnson w/ Sutherland

Jim Johnson cut his teeth as a trademark lawyer by serving as in-house counsel for The Coca-Cola and Kellogg companies and as an examining attorney in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Now a member of Sutherland’s Intellectual Property Practice Group, Jim continues to enforce the trademarks and copyrights of some of the world’s most famous and valuable brands. His practice includes filing oppositions and lawsuits to protect high value intellectual property rights, counseling clients on how to best protect such rights, and managing international IP portfolios. He also advises on unfair competition and domain-name disputes.

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Chris S, Heather B, Meredith R, Harmon C, & Alvaro A (Host)

Chris Stombaugh w/ Stombaugh, Smith & Company

BALTIMORE, Md. (February 23, 2015) – Two of the nation’s leading trial lawyers today launched a new firm, built around cutting-edge research, which will give real people an edge in court. “It’s about telling their stories more effectively and making sure they are truly heard by jurors,” said co-founder, Christoher Stombaugh, “we can use innovative research to help them find justice at a difficult time in their life.”

Named Stombaugh, Smith & Co., the new firm will be a joint venture of Smith, Gildea & Schmidt, LLC and blend the talents of Wisconsin trial thought leader Chris Stombaugh with one of Maryland’s leading litigators, Michael Paul Smith. The alliance will also include Next Research, LLC, (NR), which will use cognitive, social, and behavioral research to create predictive models and personalized trial strategies, as well as Next Trial Innovation, LLC, (NTI) which will train and educate trial lawyers in how to use this advanced research. Stombaugh, Smith & Co. LLC (SS&C) will apply these methods into trial, negotiation and legal consulting services.

“We will teach lawyers how to bring all of the elements together while keeping the focus on the people they are trying to help,” said Stombaugh, “through the research we will better understand what jurors “hear” at critical points so we can reach them on a more engaging, one-to-one level and tell them more.”

Both Stombaugh and Smith have been highly successful in difficult cases in difficult times which has drawn the interest of other trial lawyers nationwide. Their successes have helped countless plaintiffs pursue justice when it’s become increasingly difficult to take a single case to court.

Stombaugh has pioneered many of the cognitive neuroscience techniques the consortium will focus on. As a trial lawyer, Stombaugh has obtained several record jury verdicts, often seven and eight figure, in a variety of diverse cases. The Wisconsin native’s professional passion is to allow deserving people to have their stories be heard by real juries in contemporary courtrooms across America.

A Drake University Law School honors graduate, and faculty member at the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College in Wyoming. Stombaugh was, until recently, a partner at the Keenan Law Firm in Atlanta, Georgia.

Stombaugh has earned “Super Lawyer” ratings from Thompson Reuters since 2010, and has a perfect 10/10 rating from the Seattle-based AVVO legal rating service. His practice has concentrated on the areas of personal injury, wrongful death, product liability and medical negligence.

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Heather Brown w/ Brown Law LLC

With more than 14 years of experience, Heather D. Brown is the perfect choice for landlords, financial institutions, and other businesses needing legal assistance with creditors’ rights and bankruptcy matters. Her practice is primarily concentrated on the representation of landlords (retail, industrial and office) and financial institutions in connection with distressed real estate and commercial loans. In addition, Heather represents all creditors in every facet of bankruptcy, workouts and other financial restructuring matters.

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Meredith Ragains w/ Georgia Lawyers for the Arts

Ms. Ragains is the Executive Director of Georgia Lawyers for the Arts. GLA is a non-profit organization that provides legal assistance to artists to ensure that their life’s work is legally protected. Ms. Ragains is the Bloom Sugarman Everett Fellow at GLA. Through her position at GLA, Ms. Ragains is responsible for every aspect of the organization’s operations.

Ms. Ragains is a former member of the commercial litigation practice group of Bloom Sugarman Everett, a boutique litigation firm. She was formerly a member of the commercial litigation practice group of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, a national law firm, for 11 years.

Ms. Ragains has a deep well of experience in a variety of subject matter areas including, in part: Employment Law; Insurance Defense and Subrogation; Business Torts and Trade Secrets; Restrictive Covenants; Class Action Litigation; Health Care; Securities and Financial; Workout and Lender Liability; Partnership Disputes; Trademark Infringement; and Consumer Protection litigation.

Ms. Ragains represents Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, business owners, developers, contractors, builders, property owners, landlords, tenants, real estate brokers, technology companies, and manufacturers.

Ms. Ragains has significant experience in managing and overseeing associates and staff, as well as litigation management.

Ms. Ragains has provided pro bono assistance over the past 10 years to the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence in areas ranging from employment advice to insurance matters.

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Harmon Caldwell w/ Caldwell & Watson

As an Atlanta native, I’m currently managing partner at Caldwell & Watson specializing in family law. In my career, I have tried over 150 civil jury cases through the State of Georgia to a verdict and handled over 70 reported decisions in the Georgia Supreme Court and Georgia Court of Appeals. I have spoken regularly at seminars and have served as an expert witness on the issue of attorney’s fees in a number of cases.

I have recovered numerous verdicts in excess of $1 million, have represented more than 1,000 high net-worth individuals in divorce and have obtained favorable settlements in hundreds of cases.

My accomplishments in law include:

-In 1996, I recovered what was at the time the highest verdict ever in Hall County, Georgia.
-In 2012, I obtained a record settlement in a divorce case after a two-week jury trial in Dougherty County, Georgia.
-In 2012, I obtained a $5,000,000 settlement after a two-week trial in Fulton County, Georgia.
-I obtained the first ever award of punitive damages in a Probate Court case in the United States. The case involved the breach of a fiduciary duty by the executors of an estate.

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Alvaro A. Arauz w/ 3a Law Practice Management (Host)

“We challenge ourselves with complex assignments of all kinds – it requires us to constantly evolve, which in turn allows us to give better advice.   If you’re a brave attorney putting up your own shingle, a small firm adding more associates and staff, or a mid-size firm that needs infrastructure re-engineering, we can help.  We promote progress through productivity.  It’s about results, not effort.”

In 1997, Alvaro began helping lawyers by teaching them how to achieve the holy grail of greater profits for less work.   Now, Alvaro’s clients ask for his counsel in every facet of their business growth.

He believes lawyers should do two things: represent clients and foster new clients.   Anything that takes them away from that needs to be delegated.  He also believes law firms should inherit the two do-wells:  Do Well By The Client & Do Well By The Employee.   To do so, his clients receive a comprehensive and streamlined set of solutions organized and funneled through a central database.   This lets attorneys  spend less time on administration details or capturing time and more emphasis on clients or at home.

These days he shares his knowledge by speaking at frequent CLE seminars, the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association Annual Conference on Law Practice Management or at solo practitioner boot camps.   Fluent in Spanish, he can assist Latin American attorneys here and other countries.  Aside from helping many of Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia’s Super Lawyers and Rising Stars, he is proud to claim top tier lawyers recognized globally by Chambers, 7 of the Top 100 Georgia Super Lawyers and 3 of US News Best Law Firms in America as clients.    They are also frequent experts on CNN and other national news sources.

When not saving lawyers from inefficiencies, Alvaro would rather spend time with his loved ones, helping his home community or expanding his photography portfolio by traveling around the world. His literature studies in Cambridge, England and creative writing degree allowed him to teach graduate students and help start a screenwriting program at USF in Tampa.  He also contributes his time serving on four operating boards of non-profit organizations here in Atlanta and in his hometown of San Francisco.

“I teach my kids they have to give forward to receive.   If I don’t lead by example, my kids – much less clients – will pay me no mind.”

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Once you have great trial education and prep, it may be time to think about office space convenient to the courthouses. Peachtree Offices has great Downtown Atlanta office space that caters to attorneys.